Blank heading machine



Sept 20, 1932. sMlTH 1,878,196

BLANK HEADING MACHINE Filed June 28, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ATTORNEY 5 p 1932- R( H. SMITH BLANK HEADING MACHINE Filed June 28, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 q WW. hwmj ATTORNEYJ Sept. 2Q, 1932. R. H. SMITH 1,878,196

BLANK HEADING MACHINE Filed June 28, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 W WWW Patented Sept. 20. 1932 UNITED, STATES noY n. smrrn, or KENT, onro BLANK HEADING MACHINE Application -fi1ed June 28, 1928. Serial No. 288,942.

This invention relates to improvements in blank heading machines, and while of more or less general application, it has utility particularly in the manufacture of bolt, screw and rivet blanks. r

Multiple blow headers are in use, that is, headersemploying a single die but having a plurality of hammers which are arranged to be shifted successively into position in front of the die so that.the v may strike one after. the other, therebyenabling the gathering or upsetting of considerable material. These machines, however, are necessarily cumbersome and complicated, as the successive hammers or forming tools must be brought into the proper position before the blows are piece or blank.

Another object is the provision of a ma chine of this character adapted to employ solid dies in order to obtain the accuracy, finish and variety of work characteristic of the solid die header.

A further, and subsidiary object, is the provision of a blank transfer mechanism for shifting the blanks from one die to-the next succeeding die.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with the description of that embodiment of the invention'which, for v the purposes of the present application, I

ings, in whlch Figure 1 is a plan view partly in section of a blank header embodying my invention. Figure 2 is a larger scale view in transverse vertical section taken substantially on the lin 22 of Figure 1.

perform successive'operations upon the same have illustrated in the accompanying draw-- Figure 3 is a side elevational view looking in the direction of arrow A, Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 44, Figure 2, the transfer finger being removed.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the views.

In the drawings the bed of the machine is illustrated at 10. i In it is mounted for rotation a shaft 11, carrying fly wheels 12, one of which may be employed as a power pulley. Near the center of the shaft 11 there is an eccentric 13 which works in a Scotch yoke construction 14 to reciprocate a hammer carrier 15 that moves in horizontal guides. In the forward end of the carrier 15 there are mounted side by side two hammers 17 and 18, which, preferably, are in the same horizontal plane, and the working surfaces of which are preferably in the same vertical plane.

The hammers 17 and 18 cooperate respectively with solid dies 19 and 20, which are fixedly mounted in the bed of the machinein alignment with the hammers. These diesarefl removably held in place by means of wedge blocks 21 and 22, so that the substitution of dies of different sizes and characters may be readily and easily accomplished.

The wire material from which the blanks are formed is directed into the machine through a bored passage 23 in the bed thereof, it being fed by a pair of superposed rolls 24 which are driven in any suitable manner, so as to have periodic movement in the proper direction and of such extent as to cause ,theforward end of the material to engage a stop 24 that extends upwardly from a bar 25. which is adjustably mounted in a bored passage 26 inthe bed of the machine beneath the. wire passage 23. The position 'of'the stop 24 may, therefore; be varied when necessary.

In connection with the solid die 20 I employ a knock-out of known construction, consisting of a rod 27 slidable in a bore 28 in the bedof the machine and shifted inwardly at timed intervals by means of a knock-out lever 29, which is actuated by a slide 30, that is reciprocated by :means of a cam 31 on the shaft 11, through a cam follower 32 that is mounted in one end of a lever'33 pivoted at versely movable slide bar 50 mounted in a 34 to the bed of the machine. A connecting rod 35 joins the slide with the lever 33, through the intermediacy of a bracket 36, which is adjustably secured to the lever 33. 5 The length of. stroke of the connecting rod may, therefore, be regulated to suit the Work to be done.

The knock-out for die 19 is similarly arranged, and comprises a rod 37 slidable in a 10 bore 38 and adapted to be projected into the rear end of the die by means of a knock-out lever 39, which is cut away at 40 topermit the unhampered travelof the wire material, as indicated in Figure 1. Y 1 This lever 39 is arranged to be operated by a slide 41, which is driven by a connecting rod 42. The latter is driven by a crank 43 upon a short rock shaft that is mounted in a bracket 44. On the same rock shaft there is a second crank 45, which is bifurcated for the reception of a follower 46, that runs upon the periphery of a cam 47, which is keyed to the shaft 11. The two knock-out mechanisms are so designed as to cause the levers 29 and 39 to move substantially 'at the same time.

The cut-off mechanism and means for feeding measured lengths of material into position in front of die 19, where the first blanking operation is performed, will now be described. For this purpose I employ a transsuitably shaped guide or track in the bed of the machine. This bar carries a removable cut-off tool 51 whichmay be secured, to the bar by suitable means including a fastening located at the point marked 52 in Figure 2. a A pair of spring elements 53 and 54 rest against the upper and lower edges, respectively, of the tool 51, being secured thereto at their rear ends by a bolt 55. The forward ends of these springs 53, 54 carry tapered fingers 56, 57 which are adapted to recede as the tool moves towards the right in Figure 2 and the fingers encounter the material protruding from opening 23. As the cut is made the fingers spring back and grip the material. The movement to the right then continues until the material stands directly in front of the opening in die 19 when the hammer 17 engages the material forcing it into the die, the tool 51 being retracted, of course, during the first period of the hammer stroke.

Depending from the slide bar 50 there is a spindle 58, which carries at its lower end a r0ller59. This roller runs in a cam slot 60 that is formed in the upper surface of a slide 61, the latter being mounted in suitable guides for movement longitudinally of the machine. Such movement is accomp ished by means of an eccentric 72 on shaft 11 and a connecting rod 63 pivotally oined to the slide.

The mechanism which Iemploy for transferring blanks from die 19 to die 20 is carried largely upon a bracket 64, which is secured to the underside of the bed 10 of the machine. In this bracket are mounted two rock shafts 65 and 66 that are supplied with able cam and lever mechanism shown in Fig ure 3. A pair of arms 69, 70 are secured to the shaft 65 and are pivotally connected to .links 71, 72, that are in turn pivoted to slide brackets 73, 74, which are mounted to slide upon vertically arranged posts 75, 76 fixed in the bracket 64. The slide brackets 7 3, 74 carry a pair of track rails 77, 78. A saddle 79 is mount-ed to slide upon the rails 77, 78 and also upon standard 80 that is mounted in and movable with a horizontal sliding rack 81. The rack 81 is adapted to be reciprocated by a toothed sector 82, which meshes with the rack. Ashaft 83, upon which the sector 82 is fixed, carries a bevel gear 84 at its lower end, which meshes with a gear 85 mounted on the shaft 66'. The face of the saddle 79 is provided with, a dovetail slot, as shown, for the reception of a dovetail projection upon the rear side of a vertically extending transfer finger 86. The position of the latter in the slot of the saddle may be adjusted and the finger held in such adjusted position by means of a screw 87. 'At its upper end the finger 86 is provided with a V-slot 88 to receive the blank, andwith a pair of spring retaining catches 79 of known construction. In Figure 2-tl e finger 86 is shown in full lines in its lowered position from which, in the operation of the machine, it rises in order to grasp a blank as the latter is ejected from the die 19. In the same figure the dotted lines indicate a position of the finger during its blank transferring movement.

0peratz'0n.Wire or similar material enters the machine, generally from a coil, through the bored passage 23, its movement being terminated by the stop 24. The slide 61 then moves toward the right, from the position illustrated in Figure 1, causing slide 'bar, 50 to be forced inwardly toward the cen- This movement causes ter of the machine. cut-off tool 51 to sever the material, and the fingers 56, 57 to grasp it and transfer it to a position directly in front of the opening of die 19. The hammer 17 is at that time retracted. When it strikes, the material is subjected to the first heading operation. During the early part of this operation, however, that is while the material is being forced into the hole of the die, the slide 61 moves toward the left and retracts the slide bar 50, thereby withdrawing the cut-off tool out of the line of movement of the hammer 17. Thewire feed then resumes operation, a new length being pushed up against the stop 24 preparatory to the next inward movement of the cutoiftool.

As soon as the hammer 17 is withdrawn, lever 39 rocks "and knock-out rod 37 advances to push the partially formed blank out of the die '19. The blank is not permitted to drop, however, for before it is entirely out of the die the transfer finger 86 has risen from its full line position of Figure 2 and has grasped the blank. This upward movement of the finger 86 is accomplished by the rocking of the shaft 65 in a clock-wise direction, as viewed in Figure 4, whereby the brackets 73, 74 are moved upwardly upon the posts 75, 76, and the track rails 77, 78 are moved upward bodily, carrying .the saddle 79 along with them, the latter sliding upon the standard 80 during such vertical movement. The shaft 66 now rocks in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 4, turning bevel gear 84 and sector 82 and shifting the rack 81 toward the right, as viewed in Figure 2, until the finger 86 stands directly in front of die 20.

The hammer carrier 15 in the meantime has moved backwardly and is now moving forwardly. As soon as the latter movement has progressed far enough to cause the hammer 18 to begin the movement. of the blank into the opening in the die, the finger 86 starts to drop from the upper position to that of Figure 4, this movement being brought about by a counterclockwise partial rotation of the shaft 65. The finger 86is thereby withdrawn from the line of movement of the hammer 18. The shaft 66 then rotates in counterclockwise direction, shifting rack 81 to the left to a position directly beneath the line of action .of the hammer 17.. After the latter hammer has struck the next succeeding blank, shaft 65 turns clockwise, so as to raise track rails 77, 78 and move the finger 86 upward in time to grasp the blank, whereupon another cycle of movements of the finger mechanism begins The knock-out mechanismfor the die 20 functions substantially like that for die 19, becoming effective immediately after the hammer 18 has struck its blow and begins to recede. The blanks thus ejected from die 20 are permitted to fall into a suitable hopper or collecting container.

The two knock-out mechanisms, the cutoff mechanism and the blank transferring mechanism, all function between succeeding strokes of the hammer, being accurately timed was to avoid any interference between the parts. Each blank receives two heading blows, and one blank is produced for every reciprocation of the hammer car-. rier. Theamount of upsettin is, therefore, the same as in the usual twolow machine, and the rate of production is the same as in C9 the ordinary single blow machine. At the same time the employment of solid dies enables the machine to turn out blanks that are accurate and smooth.

While two dies and twohammers are sufe ficient for the purpose for which the machine was primarily intended, it is obvious that Having thus described (my invention what Iclaim is:

1. In a machine for making headed blanks,

a pair of parallel dies adapted to perform successive upsetting operations upon the same blank, a pair of hammers cooperating with said dies, reciprocating means moving in substantially the plane of said dies for feeding a length of material to the first die, and means moving substantially in the plane of said dies for transferring a blank from the first die to the second die, said lastnamed means grasping said blank during ejection from the first die and releasing it after it has begun to enter the second. die, and moving out of said plane during its return travel in order to clear said hammers.

2. In a machine for making headed blanks. a pair of upsetting dies arranged in the same plane, hammers adapted to deliver blows to said dies simultaneously, means for ejecting blanks from each of said dies, a transfer finger adapted to grasp and release blanks respectively, and means for moving said finger between hammer blows first from a position in front of the second die in a direction away from said plane, second in a transverse direction to a position opposite the first die, third, toward the said plane into a position in front of the first die, and fourth, transversely from said first die to said second die,

said finger being adapted to grasp an ejected blank at the end of the said third stage of the finger travel and release it at the end of the said fourth stage of the finger tr vel.

3. In a machine of the class described, a transfer finger, a saddle upon which said finger is mounted, a horizontal track upon which said saddle is mounted to slide, a vertical standard upon which said track is also mounted to slide, and means for raising and lowering said track and moving said standard parallel to the track.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

ROY H. SMITH. 

